The effects of carbon dioxide leakage on fractures, and water quality of potable aquifers during geological sequestration of CO2

Since industrial revolution, the ＂greenhouse effect＂ is one of the most important global environmental issues. Of all the greenhouse gases, CO2 is responsible for about 64% of the enhanced ＂greenhouse effect＂, making it the target for mitigation, so reducing anthropogenic discharge of carbon dioxide attracts more and more attention. Geological sequestration of CO2 in deep saline aquifers is one of the most promising options. But because unknown fractures and faults may exist in the caprock layers which can prevent the leakage of CO2, CO2 will leak upward into upper potable aquifers, and lead to adverse impacts on the shallow potable aquifers. In order to assess the potential effect of CO2 leakage from underground storage reservoirs on fractures and water quality of potable aquifers, this study used the non-isothermal reactive geochemical transport code TOUGHREACT developed by Xu et al to establish a simplified 2-D model of CO2 underground sequestration system, which includes deep saline aquifers, caprock layers, and shallow potable aquifers, and study and analyze the changes of mineral and aqueous components. The simulation results indicated that the minerals of deep saline aquifers and fractures should be mainly composed of aluminosilicate and silicate minerals, which not only enhance the mass of CO2 sequestrated by mineral trapping, but also decrease the porosity and permeability of caprock layers and fractures to prevent and reduce CO2 leakage. The results from deep saline aquifers showed that the mass of carbon dioxide trapped by minerals and solution phases is limited, the rest remained as a supercritical phase, and so once the caprock aquifers have some unknown fractures, the free carbon dioxide phase may leak from CO2 geologic sequestration reservoirs by buoyancy.     

Geochemistry of soils derived from black shale, central Hunan, China

The black shale formed under anoxic conditions usually contains high concentrations of many metals. Weathering of such black shale might cause the emission of many metals. Moreover, soils derived from black shale （SBS） are believed to be affected by black shale weathering. In recent years, many studies such as Lee et al. （2002）, Woo et al. （2002）, Fang et al. （2002）, Pasava et al. （2003）, and Peng et al. （2004） have approached the heavy metal contaminations of SBS, but systematical geochemical study is rare. Presently, the SBS and its corresponding black shales （CBS） were both sampled from central Hunan （China）, and analyzed for a large number of elements, using an Elan6000 ICP-MS/AES machine at Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, CAS. In this paper, some preliminary results are reported. The analytical results show that the SBS in central Hunan contains very high concentrations of heavy metals such as Co, Cu, Hg, Mo, Pb, Zn, U, Th, Sb, T1, Cd, Cr, Sc, V, Sn, As, Se, and Ni.     

Heavy metal contamination in the sediment of the Second Songhua River

The Second Songhua River was subjected to a large amount of untreated effluent from petrochemical industries in Jilin City in the 1960s to the 1970s. The objectives of this study were to investigate the mercury and other heavy metal contamination in the sediment of the river. The river bottom sediment was sampled from the river segment between Jilin City to Haerbin City in 2005. Total concentrations of Hg, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Sc, and major cations （A1, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na） in the sediment were measured by atomic fluorescence spectrometer, ICP-MS, and ICP-OES, respectively, following digestion with various acids. We found the concentrations of most elements in the uncontaminated sediment were significantly correlated to those of Sc.     

Influence of humic acid on bioavailability of heavy metals in sediments

The mimetic ocean environment and chemical method were used to research the bioavailability effect of humic acid on five heavy metals in sediment, including Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni. The sediment was separated into four containers with artificial seawater, and each of them had different concentrations of humic acid. The values of concentrations covered the whole range found in natural sediment （0.1%-10%）. According to the 48 hours LC50 of clam and distribution coefficient, metals were added in artificial seawater, and their speciation was determined at first and then after two days＇ incubation. It was found the bioavailability of heavy metals was reduced in the presence of humic acid. The obvious negative effect on Zn was observed, but the influence on Cd was not remarkable. In addition, the contents of Pb and Ni increased obviously in organic phase, and they are correlative with the concentrations of humic acid.     

长江下游一次大暴雨的中尺度模拟分析

运用中尺度数值模式（MM5V3.6）对2004年6月25日长江下游地区一次大暴雨天气过程进行了数值模拟,结合天气形势和卫星云图对此次过程进行了分析.结果表明：在东北冷涡和西太平洋副热带高压两大天气尺度系统的作用下,西南低空急流的再次加强和中低层切变线共同作用是此次大暴雨过程的主要原因.螺旋度分析表明,在不均匀的强上升气流的作用下,涡旋的水平分量向垂直分量转化是此次强降水的可能机制之一.     

南疆西部山区一次特大暴雨特征分析

通过对2001年9月22－23日南疆西北部山区特大暴雨的环流背景、物理量场、卫星云图分析，揭示了这场特大暴雨的物理机制和各要素场特征。     

Evolution of the fogwater composition in Strasbourg (France) from 1990 to 1999

The chemical composition of fogwater has been studied in the city of Strasbourg (France) from 1990 to 1999. During these years, fogwater samples have been collected and analysed for major ions and trace metals. This paper reports on the analysis of the collected dataset. The analysis revealed a significant decrease in acidity of approximately one pH unit over the course of the study. This decrease in acidity appears to be linked to a decrease in SO_2(g) and the resulting SO₄²⁻. Trace metal concentrations have also strongly decreased over the 10-year period. Pb concentrations, following the elimination of leaded gasoline, decreased by more than one order of magnitude.     

Soluble organic compounds in fog and cloud droplets: what have we learned over the past few years?

We have recently set up a new procedure for characterising the water soluble organic compounds (WSOC) in fog water, for which information is still rather limited. Fog samples collected during the 1998–1999 fall–winter season in the Po Valley (Italy) were analysed following this procedure, which allows a quantitative determination of three main classes of organic compounds (neutral species, mono- and di-carboxylic acids, polycarboxylic acids), together accounting for ca. 85% of the total WSOC. This procedure also provides information on the main chemical characteristics of these three classes of compounds (functional groups, aliphatic vs. aromatic character, etc.). The enhanced chemical knowledge on fog/cloud chemical composition opens new scenarios as far as chemical and microphysical processes in clouds and fogs are concerned.